Blue Melon Patch Quilt Gifted

What makes a movement Fascist is not ideology but the willingness to do whatever is necessary - including the use of force and trampling on the rights of others - to achieve victory and command obedience.

~Madeleine Albright

Quilting

Quilted, washed, dried, and gifted. Melon Patch looks very traditional. The corner octagons give the overall quilt a bit of curve. I considered a pieced border but know this quilt will be tucked in on the sides so chose an easier plan. 

Diagonal lines with a walking foot make the quilting in the center. I started with SID along the Melon Patches then infilled with parallel lines.

And eventually finished by quilting midway through the octagons. That was enough. 

A wave is FMQ in the dark border and a half feather in the outer white border but I forgot to get photos of those. 

The back is a blue plaid from Michael Miller. I bound the quilt with more of the same blue as the inner border. 

Quilt Specifics:

Size: 64” x 81”

Quilt design: Snowball or Melon Patch

Batting: Hobbs 80/20

Thread: blue and cream Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: Walking foot and free motion

Approximate yardage: 13 yds

Reading

When I couldn't find a readable copy of this book I listened to an audiobook. Denise writes about the development of the our Thanksgiving holiday, the search for community, and the joys of family and friends.  The book may seem out of sync with the time of  year but the topics are always pertinent. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Blue Melon Patch Top Complete

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

~G. Donald Gale

Quilting

Because I knew this quilt would be counter-paned and have a light outside border, I cut all those pieces first. They are the largest; the others can be cut from the remains. I rarely use one fabric for all the background. Although I calculated what was needed several times, I still got it wrong. That entailed a second trip in the rain to my LQS {which is now 30 miles away} to get more before it sold out. Again I calculated how much was needed. Fortunately I added another yard "for good measure". Only 24" left. I guess I needed that good measure. ;)

The Melon Patch block looked good 

 

but the first layout was less than inspiring.

That seems odd since the carpet and the counter pane blocks are very similar shades. Once those were added, the quilt looked much better. Now it’s ready to quilt.

Grandson1's choice of a very simple, quiet quilt means this quilt looks old-fashioned (or is that classical?) to me. I'm still pondering how to handle the borders. Fortunately I won't get to that for a couple of weeks... or more. 

Reading

The Goodbye Cat is a collection of seven short stories by Japanese author Hiro Arikawa. I especially enjoyed the second tale about a manga artist who's adoption of a kitten teaches him to parent his own newborn.  Phillip Gabriel is a masterful translator. Imminently readable. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

A Blue Twin

We all get to be young but only the lucky get to be old.

Quilting

My eldest grandson requested a new twin quilt in blue and cream with more lights than darks. Ok; counterpane blocks. But the blocks can’t be too large because the quilting will be something simple like curves or parallel lines. 

I’ve been mindlessly making four-patches of scraps… so while a four- or nine-patch sounds good, it needs to be changed up. What about a nine-patch of snowballs? They could be fairly small. Six-inch blocks sound good but two-inch snowballs do not. Two-and-a-half inch snowballs make a 7.5” block which will work.

Years ago I made a nine-patch snowball and used snowballs in the border. In the first example, the snowball square is divided into thirds to locate the triangles. The snowball border used scraps for the corners so none are exactly the same. In fact, there was no planned corner size. This time I want the snowball to have a smaller, but uniform, corner. What if the corners each take one fourth of a side length? The corners would finish at five-eighths inch. Small but possible. 

The snowballs are cut 3" and the corner squares are 2.25". Because they are so small I didn't mark the diagonals but just sewed across. There are five dark centers and four light centers in each octagon nine-patch. 

Each seam is pressed to the dark then the extra bits are cut off. This let me butt seams easily which in turn kept the bulk down. I'm so glad this block will be counterpaned.

Next I laid out the nine-patch and grid sewed it. Melon Patch is a similar block found in Jinny Beyer’s Patchwork Patterns from 1979 that alternates dark and light centers. Her block is an eight-pointed star, the same grid as Kaleidoscope, but I just used a four patch for drafting individual octagons. Of course, this is not a new block either. It was first published in the Kansas City Star in 1930 as simply Octagon. I like the name Melon Patch better.

Here’s one block. The corners are a bit larger than than expected. I've seen snowballs with very tiny corners and love the effect. Some time I'll try again. Forty-seven more to go. Fortunately all the pieces are cut out.

Reading

Charles King wrote an intriguing book about the history of Handel's famous oratorio. Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah introduces many of the people involved in the first performance of this work and their search for consolation and redemption. From the hypochondriac librettist Charles Jennens through contralto Susannah Cibber who was trafficked for sex by her husband each person highlighted was searching for restitution, reconciliation, or peace. 

There were so many characters it took attention to keep them all straight, especially since I'm not British. My knowledge of royal succession and the life of Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels and dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin where the Messiah was first performed are stronger now. 

King sees the oratorio as an admonition to "live bravely in the face of disaster and defeat." A good reason to hear it these days. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Border Thoughts

To use the world well, to be able to stop wasting it and our time in it, we need to relearn our being in it.

~Ursula Le Guin

Quilting

Ocean Waves V has been languishing for months while I consider a border. Unless something is added to the block centers {such as appliqué or a pieced star} the pattern only seems to differ in the borders and the background color. Previously I've made dark blue, red, and white backgrounds but each border is different.

The first was my favorite border because the waves seem to run up onto the shoreline. I seriously considered reprising it but hadn't enough triangles left. {Such a happy event! I thought they'd never end.}

Ocean Waves 1

The second is the softest but has no border at all; however, it is the most heavily quilted. 

Ocean Waves 2, no border

Although the third Ocean Waves seems to have no border, I appliquéd flowers in half of the outside red triangles. This is also the only one with printed fabric in the centers. 

Ocean Waves 3 with appliqued border

Because I wanted a rectangular quilt {and also to use up more triangles} sawtooth edges were added to the top and bottom of this Ocean Waves.

Ocean Waves IV

So what can I do here? I want to use fabric in the stash and/or leftover blocks.  One idea was the remaining four Shadow Stars in the corners with more of the stripe used in BB1 stems. Two problems: the strip doesn’t match the feel of the waves and the Star is 15” wide which will make the quilt way too large.

I tried to scoot it in by trimming the corners on the diagonal but they were still too large. 

A second thought was Ohio Stars in the corners using the absolute last of the triangles.  But it doesn't seem to relate well to the center. 

Finally I simply added three borders: white, blue micro stripe, and more white. My friend, Peg, will quilt it so this gives her lots of room to play. 

Now it's off to my friend, Pat, for long-arm quilting. This one is much too large for me to handle anymore.

Reading

Dr. Rundell's biography of John Donne is interesting and comprehensive. I studied several of his poems and essays in school but didn't know anything else about him. I'm glad I read it. 

Enjoy the day,  Ann

Basket Quilt

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

~Maya Angelou

Quilting

Quilted, bound, washed, and ready to gift. The basket quilt turned out better than expected. Jinny Beyer's books are my main reference but I can't find this five-patch basket in them. Although I sketched it on my own, I'm sure it has a name. I just don't know it.

The border blocks began this quilt. You could say it was designed like a kawandi - from the outside in. With that set, I had to plan something for the center. I love baskets and always drool over Audrey's but I don't make nearly enough. 

But I definitely didn't want a little brown basket. Once the blues and greens were decided, the block called for red to tie into the border. {And also because I love red.} Little red flowers run up from the base. Alternating the background let me mix both pink and yellow triangles inside.

 

Large as they are, the baskets are a bit too small but a diagonally printed stripe from my stash makes perfect sashing and helped fill in the shortage. And since it was still short, I added narrow coping strips in the background fabrics. I spent more time than necessary deciding to extend the center sashing through that outer coping strip. One other idea was to cut the sashing and let the outer strip encircle the entire center. Another was to use the stripe as the outer coping strip. {That died quickly.}

Basket quilt

The back uses up the last of the yellow on white background and is filled out with some green gifted by my friend Gayle.  More diagonal stripe binds the quilt.

Back of Basket quilt

The older I get, the easier I want the quilting so my usual spiral filled the bill. I don't have the inclination or the arm strength as the moment to try a lot of free motion quilting. 

Quilt Specifics:

Size: 45" x 45"

Quilt design: Baskets with Crossroads border

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton

Thread: yellow Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: Spiral with a walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds

Things have been interesting here to say the least. DH had another surgery. We've been concerned about it and the recovery but it was a cakewalk.  They didn't need to do nearly as much as they anticipated and he's bouncing back much faster than last year. What a relief.

When he came home he noticed my laptop wasn't closing properly. I've been ignoring that but DH said the battery was expanding as it failed and could explode. Yikes! Let the computer rotation begin. DH gets a new computer and I get his hand-me-down {which he always calls "my new computer".} Of course, I also get full tech support since he knows the ins and outs of "mine." Still, it's been a week offline and a few days backing up and reinstalling files. Now I have to learn to use this one properly. 

I planted butterfly weed starters and hope they will take this year. I purchased some garden cloches to keep critters off them while they root. Every year I plant and hope they will take. The only success turned out to be a tropical milkweed. Those can discourage monarchs from continuing their migration. Grr.

Enjoy the day, Ann

A Final Racetrack Quilt

Constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong. With such a people you can do whatever you want.

~Hannah Arendt

Quilting

I intentionally made extra racetrack blocks last time because I have three children… and I’m getting older quickly. Whenever my youngest needs/wants/has a use for one, it will be ready. 

The first was made almost eight years ago. Suddenly another was needed last year; that’s when I decided to make a third, too. All are Kona snow streets on novelty prints but each border is slightly different. This one is rectangular and has no exit ramp. 

This blue race car fabric backed the second quilt. There wasn’t enough left to complete this back but some bright red makes an exciting border. 

The same red also binds the quilt. Again I chose Warm and Natural batting here because it does not shrink. That keeps the roadway smoother. {Not smooth enough to really race cars though.}

Quilt Specifics

Size: 48” x 54”

Quilt: Snake in the Grass

Batting: Warm and Natural 

Thread: Superior cotton in red, blue, and green

Quilting: Stitch in the ditch and stipple

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yards

Reading

This engaging and well-researched book documents women’s presence in all our armed forces. Before WWII, our generals recognized we would need much more support staff for mechanized warfare. And there simply weren't enough men. Women were recruited as adjunct and auxiliary units. By the war’s end they joined each service as official troops with all the rights, privileges, and duties.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Fireworks Quilt

A despot doesn't fear eloquent writers preaching freedom - he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold.

~E.B. White

Quilting

I'm sorry I've been offline. We've had many issues; as fast as one is finished, another pops up. Family, medical, house, yard. Consequently I haven't quilted since the first week of January. 

While cleaning the sewing room last week I pulled all my black prints. They are difficult for me to work with; I can't see anything on that dark fabric. So... use or donate? With that phrase ringing in my ears, of course I chose to use them. 

Sujata gave me her Sunburst quilt pattern when she visited last year. This is the perfect time to make it since most of the "thinking" is already done. I simply have to follow her directions. 

Warm and bright colors lighten the blacks and make it look like fireworks. I changed some of Sujata's directions. Putting black in the inner circle confused the design. I pulled those, instead using the two colors that aren't in the outer circle. All the centers are black squares. 

Fireworks Quilt

The batting is leftover from the jacket I made my youngest. He insisted he wants the Fireworks quilt. And his birthday is this month. Done and dusted. 

Quilt Specifics

Size: 46" x 46"

Design: Sunburst by Sujata Shah

Batting: Warm and Natural

Thread: YLI black cotton

Quilting: Spiral with a walking foot

Approximate yardage: 6 yds approx.

Reading

Genetric anthropologist Dr. Jennifer Raff wrote this interesting book sharing the current research on First Americans. She shared new techniques as well as Native histories to show that the initial peopling of the Americas occurred much earlier than previously thought. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Crossroads and Baskets

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

~E.B. White

Quilting

I'm still avoiding BB2 but eventually I'll get to work on it. Currently I chose to work with the red Crossroad border blocks. {No. It's still not the end. Sheesh.} Remember they didn't work well with the orange and brown squares on BB2. Audrey's many baskets inspired me to try one of my own. As usual I thought about appliqué and chickened out.

I designed the baskets to {almost} fit inside the border. Either coping strips or an inner border will be needed to fill it out. 

Since there wasn't enough background for all four baskets, I used two older prints: pink birds on white and yellow floral on white. Fabrics were mixed and matched until they looked right. The green, yellow, and pink triangles came from a scrap bin but the others were cut from stash. 

With the baskets mostly decided, I cut two strips: a black and white stripe and a multicolor stripe on the diagonal to separate them. While the stronger contrast of black and white draws me, the multicolor may work better.  Progress photos in the montage below.

Originally I planned to put one fabric in the center but changed my mind. The strips will continue across the center and one of these squares below will be the post. 

This needs to be pushed along because a new baby needs it. 

Reading

Dr. Kalanithi worked as a neurosurgeon when he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. This memoir of his life and treatment was published posthumously. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

2024 Ends

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: Loving others.

~Bob Hope

Quilting

It’s been a long year. Not the toughest one I’ve experienced but my resiliency wanes. Less energy to “move mountains” but more remembrance of loved ones who’ve passed and more visits with those still here. Quilt finishes slowed significantly. I have a mental list of ones I’d still like to make. One resolution is to work only on those… Well, mostly on those. 

Blogger frequently fights me. I have trouble adding photos, commenting, and formatting. it. I started this blog to document my quilting and to connect with people with similar interests. I’m grateful for the friends I’ve met online. Even if you can’t comment, several of you email regularly. Although Blogger is a legacy product, I’ll keep using it.

The quilts finished this year are on my 2024 page. Although my personal promise was to finish each in turn all the way through, a few were set aside. Such as that quilt from four leftover blocks. Wow; it's from 2022. Time flies. 

Quilt top from four leftover sets

I'm also way behind on BB2. There are ideas but not much time or energy right now. Hopefully that will change after the holiday. 

Reading

Dr. Mukherjee has written an excellent history of cancer from its earliest written records through the latest research developments. Although it’s written for laymen, you’ll need to pay attention to get the most from his book. 

Wishing all love, inclusion, and acceptance. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Enjoy the day, Ann

TIGER Baby Quilt

Every disaster movie starts with the government ignoring a scientist.

Quilting

If you follow my posts, you realize I often create baby quilts in series which frequently use leftover blocks and scraps/offcuts from larger ones. Not that I ever tell parents this. People who don't quilt think scraps mean roadkill or something! We know the fabric is still in the $10-15/yard range. 

Once I made a series of Lone Stars; I still have some ideas about that. They started with lots of WOF strips that were hanging around. 

The Word series began from the idea of traditional four block quilts - those lovely, large (usually appliquéd) blocks that fill the entire bed. I could make them smaller for babies and instead of appliqué, use the alphabet because... four-letter words. Wordle uses five-letter words. That made me wonder how many four-letter words are suitable for babies. LOVE came first; eventually a list developed. Not all have been used but I'm running out of Coin sets - only a few left in the scrap bag. 

Combining the last few sets, a yellow and purple group emerged… because my youngest is an LSU grad and surely one of his friends would like a baby quilt in these colors. 

The next step was to find a pertinent four-letter word. Unlike his Arkansas brother, all the words were three or five letters: Geaux, Tiger, LSU. Rats. Eventually I realized the “I” could be altered to take less space. A capital I runs into the letter T but the lower case i solved the problem.

TiGER baby quilt

The purple print was purchased at the closing of my LQS but, as usual, it needed to be widened a bit. Two strips of yellow turned up in a search through my stash. 

Choosing the plainer one finished the back. Then it was spiral quilted and bound with the last of another purple print. 

We’ll see who gets it. 

Quilt Specifics

Size: 44” x 44”

Design: Coin or String quilt

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton

Thread: yellow Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: spiral with a walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds

Reading

The Black Angels are trained black nurses, mainly from the South, who moved to NY to escape the worst of Jim Crow. There was no cure for TB. Staff members risked becoming patients themselves. With plentiful easier positions available, white nurses quit and/or refused to work at tuberculosis clinics. The authorities advertised down South, promising the women could gain RN status after a few years. 

Cures for TB were not found until after WWII.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bramble Blooms 2 Again

Life is like writing with a pen. You can cross out your past but you can’t erase it.

~E.B. White

Quilting

Yes, I started BB2 and it progressed into some very light blues… which are not in the original fabric pull. That doesn’t matter except the fabric is still pulled and taking up floor space. Now I’m trying to use a few of the orange and red squares I cut so profligately. 

First, a simple alternate diagonal. Nah.

\

Trip Around the World was another, “No.”

Finally set them randomly with alternate dark browns. No photo of that step because it wouldn't upload. 

Of course, I still have some Crossroads blocks, this time with red backgrounds. And of course, it’s still a great border.

But… they don’t play well with the center. However, the green and orange print makes a good inner border. There’s about a yard so I’m cutting the border wide now. I can cut it down later. Once I made an appliqué border a mere six inches wide and had loads of difficulties fitting things in. 

I’m determined to appliqué this round. There are several yards of leftover stems in my binding box from the Spiderweb quilt that are much too narrow for this wider inner border. Yuck.

I’ll cut some wider stems using Audrey’s method. I think another quilt teacher used that same technique years ago. More recently, someone suggested the bias fold method and I bought several of those tools. It works well until I get to a seam, then I always have an unsightly bulge. Audrey’s plan eliminates that issue.

Reading

Mike Duncan wrote a well-researched book on the Marquis de Lafayette. I didn’t know much about his life in France. Did you know he went to school with one of their future kings? And I learned more about his time in the US. 

Happy Thanksgiving. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

REST Baby Quilt

Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. 

~E.B. White

 Quilting

The previous quilt used the medium green sets but there's still a bunch of dark green ones. They only seem to work with these dark browns. I like the combination although it's pretty old-fashioned. My stash also contained these pastel tan and green solids. That's how this quilt came about. 

The back came from a LQS closing sale. While it's exciting to get the fabric so cheaply, it means fewer choices in the future. I have trouble getting fabrics I really like online - either the colors are off or the fabric itself doesn't have a nice hand.  

Quilt Specifics

Size: 44” x 44”

Design: Coin or String quilt

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose Cotton

Thread: green Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: spiral with a walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds

REST also goes to friends of my youngest. 

Reading

Who remembers Orange Guy's terrible response to the Covid-19 outbreak that led to one of the worst outcomes in any country? Nightmare Scenario was written shortly after the end of his term but I only read it now. What a reminder of horrible actions or lack of actions. Who else recalls that Orange Guy got Covid and then got experimental treatments that were unavailable to regular citizens. So many people died unnecessarily.

Enjoy the day, Ann

WISH Baby Quilt

If you're going to rise, you might as well shine.

Quilting

We're feeling better and now trying to reschedule all the appointments we missed this fall. We voted by mail and verified our ballots have been accepted. As Nann said, “May the best woman win.” There's a lot of yard- and house work to catch up on. We aren't at full strength yet but improving daily. I restarted exercise classes and am worn out after each. Again, it will get better. 

I've washed as much red out of the nine-patch quilt as I possibly can. The white background of that lovely floral is still pink but I'm out of ideas of how to remove it. It's folded up again. Waiting. The other two quilts cleaned up very well though.

Fortunately, there's still a lot of partially processed quilt blocks/sets that make quilting easier. Blues and greens are the next combination of coins for a baby quilt. I sewed the sets a few years ago, rolled them into tight cylinders. and set them in my scrap bag.  Now is the time to use them up.

W was the hardest letter to create. Truncating the corners of the letter made it easier. I used that effect for previous letters like V, too. When the letters are angled I find making a template works best. Afterwards I pin the templates together in case they are needed for future words. 

When I first started this series, each quilt was four different colors - one for each letter. However, the Arkansas quilts showed well two color choices work. 

WISH baby quilt

The back is fabric I purchased online for a dress then didn't like when it arrived. The colors are much less saturated in person. After a few months of pouting, I'm putting it to use as quilt backs. Since the quilt is just a bit wider than one WOF, I inserted leftovers blue and green coin sets. The value sequence looks interesting to me.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 45” x 45”

Design: Coin or String quilt

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose Cotton 

Thread: green Superior Masterpiece cotton

Quilting: spiral with walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds

Reading

The subtitle of Cat Bohannon's book explains her premise: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Evolution. She notes that the past century of research has focused almost exclusively on males, leaving us with less than half the information we should have on everything from medical care and drug interactions to anthropological studies. 

Cat chooses points on the evolutionary timeline that illuminate changes that led to the development mammals and humans. The book is densely packed with information but provides a very different explanation that all the previous male-centric theories. Definitely worth reading. 

Enjoy the day, Ann